It’s time that I jump on the lightweight ranking bandwagon. Below is the list of the Top 10 lightweight fighters in the UFC and an explanation for their rankings.
- B.J. Penn- Penn is the champion and the champ is always going to be the top dog on a ranking for any organization. On top of that Penn looked better against Joe Stevenson then Sean Sherk did against Hermes Franca.
- Sean Sherk- since Sherk is the number 1 contender, so he (reluctantly)gets the 2 ranking here. Hopefully Penn is able to get an entertaining performance out of the “Muscle Shark” because lay and pray is not going to get the job done in that fight.
- Kenny Florian- since his loss to Sherk, Florian has been tearing through the competition making his way back into contender status. A win against Joe Lauzon will probably clinch a title shot against the Penn-Sherk winner.
- Frank Edgar- “The Answer” broke through in 2007 with his fight against Tyson Griffin and furthered his stock with his victory over Spencer Fisher. We’ll see what Edgar has in store of his fans in 2008.
- Joe Stevenson- the toughness that Stevenson showed in defeat at UFC 80 was great. He was out classed by Penn yet his determination never wavered. Stevenson will be back among the elite in a short time.
- Roger Huerta- Huerta silenced some critics with his come from behind victory over Clay Guida. Like Mahde mentioned, Huerta did something that a lot of top class fighters couldn’t do and that was finishing Guida. After a busy 2007, the Sports Illustrated cover boy will take some time off before coming back to the UFC in what will probably be another top caliber fight.
- Tyson Griffin- the UFC has another young star in their hands with Griffin. Griffin can make any fight entertaining, and if it wasn’t for the loss to Edgar, would probably already be fighting for the title shot.
- Din Thomas- despite Thomas’ knee coming up gimp in his fight versus Florian, he remains a top fighter in a division full of young stars. Thomas needs to regain his form before the Florian fight in order to continue his climb up the rankings.
- Thiago Tavares- Tavares looked awful in his match versus Michihiro Omigawa, the fight that was meant as a showcase for Tavares‘ skill ended with him looking like he didn’t belong more than anything. He needs to regain the form he had pre-Omigawa in order to continue getting pushed by Zuffa.
- Nate Diaz- the Ultimate Fighter 5 winner has been on a roll since capturing the six-figure contract. Though he was on his way to defeat against Manny Gamburyan, Diaz has pretty much walked through everyone else in front of him.
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